Ryan Bezy

Associate Professor of Biology

Assistant Professor of Biology Ryan Bezy has a bachelor's degree in biology from DePauw University and a doctorate in molecular biology and genetics from Indiana University. Bezy has been teaching at Mount Mercy since 2009, having the opportunity to interact with students both in the classroom and mentoring them on various research projects.

During his academic career, Bezy has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards. Most recently, he received a R.J. McElroy Trust Grant in 2014 to help fund his research. Over the summers of 2013 and 2014, Bezy took part as a fellow in the FUTURE in Biomedicine Program at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine.

During his time at Indiana University, Bezy carried out research into how the cyanobacterium Fremyella diplosiphon responds to changes in ambient light color through the differential expression of two types of light absorbing pigments. Bezy’s current research interests currently are divided into two different areas. The first research area involves collaboration with Dr. David Weiss at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. This research is aimed at further understanding how bacterial cell division is accomplished and regulated through discovery and characterization of novel proteins involved Escherichia coli cell division. As part of this project undergraduate students at MMU have had the opportunity to do in depth research as part of summer internships at the University of Iowa. A second area of research explores best pedagogical (teaching) practices in higher education learning. Bezy, along with Dr. Alesia Hruska-Hageman, is looking at the impact of discussion groups that center on academic preparedness as well as problem based learning on the attitudes and outcomes of student learning for first semester freshman and transfer students taking the Foundations of Biology I course at MMU.

Bezy is a member of the Iowa Academy of Sciences and the American Society of Microbiologists. In his free time he enjoys basketball, cooking, gardening and spending time with his family.